The Chief Minister of Assam, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Assam. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state’s de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Assam Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister’s term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
Since 1946, Assam has had 14 chief ministers. Ten of these belonged to the Indian National Congress, including Gopinath Bordoloi, the first Chief Minister of Assam, and Anwara Taimur, India’s first female Muslim chief minister. Congress monopoly in the state was brought to an end when Golap Borbora led the Janata party to victory in the 1978 assembly elections. Borbora consequently became the first non congress Chief Minister of Assam. Prior to that, Borbora was the first member of the non congress opposition to be elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam. Congressman Tarun Gogoi is the longest-serving officeholder, having served for 15 years from 2001 to 2016. Sarbananda Sonowal became the Assam’s first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP when he was sworn-in on 24 May 2016. On 9th May 2021, Himanta Biswa Sarma is announced as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam.
Premier of Assam (1937-50)
Under the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly and a legislative council. The Premier of Assam was the head of the government and leader of the legislative assembly of Assam province.
| No. | Name | Portrait | Constituency | Term of office | Assembly | Party(coaliton) | Appointedby
(Governor) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Days in office | ||||||||
| 1 | Sir Syed Muhammad Saadullah |  |
Kamrup (South) | 1 April 1937 | 19 September1938 | 1 year, 171 days | 1stProvincial
Assembly (1937 election) |
Assam United Muslim Party(INC) | Robert Neil Reid | |
| 2 | Gopinath Bordoloi |  |
Kamrup Sadar (South) | 19 September1938 | 17 November1939 | 1 year, 59 days | Indian National Congress | |||
| (1) | Sir Syed Muhammad Saadullah | |
Kamrup (South) | 17 November1939 | 24 December 1941 | 2 years, 37 days | Assam United Muslim Party(AIML) | |||
| – | Vacant(Governor’s Rule) | – | – | 25 December 1941 | 24 August 1942 | 242 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| (1) | Sir Syed Muhammad Saadullah | |
Kamrup (South) | 25 August 1942 | 11 February 1946 | 3 years, 170 days | 1stProvincial
Assembly (1937 election) |
Assam United Muslim Party(AIML) | Sir Andrew Gourlay Clow | |
| (2) | Gopinath Bordoloi | |
Kamrup Sadar (South) | 11 February 1946 | 25 January 1950 | 3 years, 349 days | 2nd ProvincialAssembly
(1946 election) |
Indian National Congress | ||
Chief Ministers of Assam
| No. | Name | Portrait | Constituency | Term of office | Assembly | Party | Appointedby
(Governor) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Days in office | ||||||||
| 1 | Gopinath Bordoloi | |
Kamrup Sadar (South) | 26 January 1950 | 6 August 1950 | 192 days | 2nd Provincial(1946 election) | Indian National Congress | Sir Saleh Akbar Hydari | |
| 2 | Bishnuram Medhi |  |
Hajo | 9 August 1950 | 27 December 1957 | 7 years, 140 days | ||||
| 1st(1952 election) | Jairamdas Daulatram | |||||||||
| 2nd(1957 election) | Fazl Ali | |||||||||
| 3 | Bimala Prasad Chaliha | Badarpur | 28 December 1957 | 6 November 1970 | 12 years, 313 days | |||||
| Sonari | 3rd(1962 election) | Gen. S. M. Shrinagesh | ||||||||
| 4 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry |  |
Guwahati East | 11 November 1970 | 30 January 1972 | 1 year, 80 days | 4th(1967 election) | Vishnu Sahay | ||
| 5 | Sarat Chandra Singha |  |
Bilasipara East | 31 January 1972 | 12 March 1978 | 6 years, 40 days | 5th(1972 election) | Braj Kumar Nehru | ||
| 6 | Golap Borbora |  |
Tinsukia | 12 March 1978 | 4 September 1979 | 1 year, 176 days | 6th(1978 election) | Janata Party | Lallan Prasad Singh | |
| 7 | Jogendra Nath Hazarika | Duliajan | 9 September 1979 | 11 December 1979 | 93 days | |||||
| – | Vacant (President’s rule) |
 |
N/A | 12 December 1979 | 5 December 1980 | 359 days | N/A | – | ||
| 8 | Syeda Anwara Taimur | Dalgaon | 6 December 1980 | 30 June 1981 | 206 days | Indian National Congress | Lallan Prasad Singh | |||
| – | Vacant (President’s rule) |
|
N/A | 30 June 1981 | 13 January 1982 | 197 days | N/A | – | ||
| 9 | Kesab Chandra Gogoi | Dibrugarh | 13 January 1982 | 19 March 1982 | 65 days | Indian National Congress | Prakash Mehrotra | |||
| – | Vacant (President’s rule) |
|
N/A | 19 March 1982 | 27 February 1983 | 345 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| 10 | Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 27 February 1983 | 23 December 1985 | 2 years, 299 days | 7th(1983 election) | Indian National Congress | Prakash Mehrotra | ||
| 11 | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta |  |
Nowgong | 24 December 1985 | 28 November 1990 | 4 years, 339 days | 8th(1985 election) | Asom Gana Parishad | Bhishma Narain Singh | |
| – | Vacant (President’s rule) |
|
N/A | 28 November 1990 | 30 June 1991 | 214 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | |
| (10) | Hiteswar Saikia | Nazira | 30 June 1991 | 22 April 1996 | 4 years, 297 days | 9th(1991 election) | Indian National Congress | Loknath Mishra | ||
| 12 | Bhumidhar Barman |  |
Barkhetry | 22 April 1996 | 14 May 1996 | 22 days | ||||
| (11) | Prafulla Kumar Mahanta | |
Barhampur | 15 May 1996 | 17 May 2001 | 5 years, 2 days | 10th(1996 election) | Asom Gana Parishad | ||
| 13 | Tarun Gogoi |  |
Titabar | 18 May 2001 | 24 May 2016 | 15 years, 6 days | 11th(2001 election) | Indian National Congress | Lt. Gen. S. K. Sinha | |
| 12th(2006 election) | Lt. Gen. Ajai Singh | |||||||||
| 13th(2011 election) | Janaki Ballabh Patnaik | |||||||||
| 14 | Sarbananda Sonowal |  |
Majuli | 24 May 2016 | 10 May 2021 | 4 years, 351 days | 14th(2016 election) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya | |
| 15 | Himanta Biswa Sarma |  |
Jalukbari | 10 May 2021 | Incumbent | 154 days | 15th(2021 election) | Jagdish Mukhi | ||
- Notes
- ^ A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- ^ This column only names the chief minister’s party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
- ^ A parenthetical number indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
- ^ This column only names the chief minister’s party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d When President’s rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.
Timeline
